EXCLUSIVE - Canvey won't cope with 700 new homes, Echo reveals (From Echo)

EXCLUSIVE - Canvey won't cope with 700 new homes, Echo reveals

1:00pm Friday 12th October 2012 in News Exclusive By Jacqueline McMillan

EXCLUSIVE - Canvey won't cope with 700 new homes, Echo reveals

SHOCKING new figures reveal infrastructure on Canvey will not cope with another 700 homes.

Prospective plans for 600 homes at Thorney Bay Caravan Park, in Thorney Bay Road, and 99 homes off Point Road were approved by Castle Point Council last month.

The move has sparked fears that healthcare and educational facilities on Canvey would buckle under the added strain.

Now, the Echo can reveal figures obtained from Essex County Council and the South East Essex Primary Care Trust confirm the island’s infrastructure is already at breaking point.

County Hall predicts the two developments would require an additional 210 primary school places to be made available, a number which Canvey’s current school network cannot provide.

Predicted numbers for pupils for the 2013/14 school year already show Canvey Infants has only three places left, Leigh Beck Junior has only four places left and St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School has only nine available spaces.

An Essex County Council spokesman said: “Current forecasts would indicate that across Canvey there are not enough surplus Primary school places to accommodate children from the proposed development. Therefore new school places would need to be commissioned and we would seek Developer Contributions to facilitate this.

“The location of the proposed site would be a key factor in determining the best solution to accommodate pupils.”

Meanwhile, doctors’ surgeries on the island are already bursting at the seams.

While there is no official limit on the number of patients a GP can have on their books, the national average is around 1,800 patients per doctor.

Seven out of the nine doctors surgeries on the island are oversubscribed by anywhere from 360 patients to 770 patients over the national average.

This comes as the health authority is considering scrapping a vital Saturday emergency health service at Oaklands surgery in the Central Canvey Primary Care Centre, in Long Road.

A spokeswoman from the PCT said: “There is no national minimum or maximum requirement for patient list sizes. However the national average is circa 1,800 patients per GP. It is down to local GP discretion.

“At present the GP provision in the area is adequate for the number of residents. However this is continually being assessed and should the number of residents increase then GP practice capacity would have to be reviewed.”

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